Police to seek arrest warrants for union leaders of POSCO subcontractors

Local police said Saturday they will seek arrest warrants for 60 leaders of unionized workers from subcontractors of POSCO, South Korea's leading steelmaker, on charges of illegal occupation of POSCO's headquarters, obstruction of business and violation of laws on protests and demonstrations.

The police said they will continue to search for four unionized leaders who escaped and begin an additional investigation of 56 unionized workers who were arrested at the scene Friday.

Some 2,000 workers from POSCO's subcontracting companies started a sit-in strike, calling for higher wages and better working conditions, by occupying the head office in the southeastern city of Pohang on July 13.

The striking workers voluntarily returned to work early Friday, ending a week-long demonstration that disrupted the operations of the company.

POSCO, the world's fourth-largest steelmaker, said the strike almost paralyzed its operations and cost over 200 billion won (US$209.6 million) in lost production.

Daegu, July 22 (Yonhap News)